In The Hunt For Votes, Romney Heads East To 2008 Iowa Stronghold

Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop Wednesday at Elly's Tea and Coffee in Muscatine, Iowa.

Chris CarlsonAssociated Press

Originally published on December 28, 2011 9:18 am

On Wednesday morning, Mitt Romney was getting an early start to campaigning in eastern Iowa, meeting and greeting voters having breakfast or just getting a caffeine boost at Elly's Tea and Coffee in Muscatine.

The former Massachusetts governor is concentrating his efforts in the part of Iowa where he did best in 2008, when he finished a disappointing second statewide to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. With more social conservatives in the race this time around, the Romney camp hopes the evangelical vote will splinter, propelling him to a top-two finish here.

Wednesday's meet and greets in eastern Iowa follow a blistering attack on President Obama last night in Davenport, in which he accused the President of failed policies and weak leadership.

Romney is all but ignoring his GOP rivals, who are in full attack mode. Of course, he doesn't need to attack them when there are super PACs doing the dirty work for him. And that's something Newt Gingrich criticized Romney for in an interview on CNN Tuesday night, saying Romney should be man enough to own those attacks.